Successfull XV MedaWomen Entrepreneurs Forum in Barcelona (Spain)

The XV Edition of the “Meda Women Entrepreneurs Forum“ was held last 15 th November 2023, in Casa Llotja de Mar in Barcelona, leaded by AFAEMME under the umbrella of the ASCAME Mediterranean Economic Leaders Week. The conference has brought together outstanding businesswomen, world leaders, partners from the public and private sectors, privileged stakeholders as; Association of Chamber of Commerce from the Mediterranean (ASCAME), Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), Association of Mediterranean Economists (EMEA), BUSINESSMED, European Institute for the Mediterranean (IEMED), Spanish Confederation of Employers (CEOE), Salma Dialogue, EADA Business School, European Economic and Social Committee (E.E.S.C), representatives from the Federation of Businesswomen Organizations in the Mediterranean- AFAEMME- from Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey, Morocco, Slovenia - and businesswomen from all over the Mediterranean to discuss the full integration of women in the economy. Some points raised in relation of the low presence of women in high-ranking positions, the gender gap in management positions and the barriers to access to finance, technology and other sectors, analysing their deep roots, ranging from cultural factors to insufficient support for women-led businesses, the lack of policy frameworks to address the gender gap and the challenge of promote work-family conciliation, among others. Gender policies should focus on promoting the right mind-set to advance gender equality. A mainstreamed approach to gender equality is the way forward to contribute to sustainable progress, across a whole variety of socio- economic, geographic, institutional, policy and sectoral factors and stakeholders. For this to be achieved, countries should work towards ensuring a better representation of women in policy making across all policy areas and sectors, the collection of gender-disaggregated data, a systematic use of relevant governance tools and the necessary administrative capacities. It was mentioned based on several sources like OECD, that gender gaps inentrepreneurship are persistent and costs economies ideas, innovation andjobs. These gender gaps are due to a range of factors, including gender differences in motivations for entrepreneurship and in the number and scale ofbarriers faced in the areas of entrepreneurship skills, access to finance and networks. Women entrepreneurs have long faced barriers in access to finance for business creation and growth. Improve the quality of accompanying non- financial services is needed. It also covers the potential of fintech to improve access to debt and equity financing and the need to scale up measures to support growth-oriented women. Some numbers were raised by the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean; compared to the global average, Europe and the MENA region are below the 6,2% global percentage of women entrepreneurs who own a business (5.3% and 4.5% respectively). Closing the gender gap in the region could potentially add 47 percent to the GDP GROWTH by 2025.